NASA's Theory On 'Alien Superstructure'

A mysterious space event which some claimed could have been caused by an alien superstructure is probably just a bunch of comets, according to experts.

Planet-hunters spotted a star - known as KIC 8462852 - around 1,481 light-years away from Earth.

The light was registered in irregular and unnatural flickering patterns, and one university researcher said it could be due to an alien superstructure sitting in front of the star to harvest solar power.

Jason Wright, from Penn State University, said: "Aliens should always be the very last hypothesis you consider, but this looked like something you would expect an alien civilization to build."

But Massimo Marengo of Iowa State University has now concluded: "The scenario in which the dimming in the KIC 8462852 light curve were caused by the destruction of a family of comets remains the preferred explanation.

"What the star is doing is very strange. It’s interesting when you have phenomena like that – typically it means there’s some new physical explanation or a new concept to be discovered."

A NASA statement said: "It's possible that a family of comets is travelling on a very long, eccentric orbit around the star."

Powerful radio telescopes have been monitoring the star but have found no signs of life.

NASA is to carry out more research before publishing its final verdict on what exactly has caused the strange phenomena.

Earlier this month the Seti Institute in California said the strange behaviour "is quite likely due to nature, not aliens".